World Cup: Scorecards of 500+, Bigger prize jackpot

New Delhi, May 17 : Huge scores during the ongoing series between England and Pakistan have forced a redesign of the scorecards for the upcoming World Cup to accommodate up to 500-run team totals, according to media reports.'Scorecards bought by fans at games have a tally of runs that can be ticked off and for the World Cup were originally designed to go up to 400. But at an operations meeting last week Steve Elworthy, the tournament director, realised they would have to be be redesigned with a tally of up to 500,' the reports said.

England are just one of a number of teams with explosive batting line ups and combined with flat pitches it would not be a surprise if a side at the World Cup became the first to score 500 in a 50 over match.

Explosive line-ups

The current record is 481 for six by England against Australia at Trent Bridge last year. England chased 358 against Pakistan at Bristol on Tuesday with ease, winning by six wickets to underline how the modern 50 over game is dominated by powerful batting. If the weather stays sunny and the pitches flat, combined with white balls that do not swing, then new batting records will be set in the World Cup.

International Cricket Council on Friday announced that the winners would get a purse of 4 million dollar, the highest prize money to date, along with the trophy that the victorious team will lift at the Lord's on 16th July.Bigger jackpotThe total prize pot of 10 million dollar will see the runners-up assured of 2 million dollar and the losing semi finalists 800,000 dollar each at the end of the 46-day tournament being played across 11 venues from 30th May.There are prizes for each league match won, in what promises to be a competitive tournament with the world’s best playing each other in a round-robin format.

The tournament will run from 30th May to 14th July. The semi-finals will be played at Old Trafford in Manchester and Edgbaston in Birmingham on July 9 and July 11 respectively, while the Lord's will host the final on 14th July.There are 10 teams in the tournament which will play against each other in a single-league format, with the top four sides after 45 matches to qualify for the two semi-finals.Australia lifted the World Cup in 1987, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2015 while India won in 1983 and 2011. Pakistan clinched in 1992, Sri Lanka in 1996 and the West Indies swept the first two 1975 and 1979 editions. (UNI)